Philippines Pushes to End China Sea Standoff Before Weekend Trip

By Joel Guinto and Daniel Ten Kate -
Apr 12, 2012

The Philippines is seeking a quick
resolution to a three-day standoff between its biggest warship
and Chinese vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea
where the countries are competing for oil, gas and fish.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said he
wants to resolve the deadlock over illegal fishing before he
travels to the U.S. on April 15. Talks with Chinese envoy Ma
Keqing, whom he last met yesterday at 11 p.m., are “moving
forward,” he told reporters in Manila today.

“There’s some urgency if she wants to negotiate with me,”
he said. “As far as I’m concerned, I want to get it done before
I leave.”

The conflict is the latest stemming from overlapping claims
in the South China Sea, reflecting the inability of disputants
to agree on how to implement a set of rules for operating in the
waters. China claims most of the sea as its own and used patrol
boats last year to disrupt hydrocarbon survey activities by the
Philippines and Vietnam.

The Philippines and China issued competing accounts
yesterday of the confrontation on the Scarborough Shoal. While
the Philippines said Chinese ships had prevented it from
arresting fisherman on its territory, China said the Philippines
had illegally blocked the passage of ships seeking shelter from
rough weather.

“We are working on a resolution on a diplomatic level,”
Philippine President Benigno Aquino told reporters in Manila
yesterday. “No one will benefit if violence breaks out.”

Giant Clams, Sharks

Philippine personnel attempting to arrest Chinese fishermen
aboard eight boats for illegal catches of giant clams and live
sharks were blocked by two marine surveillance ships, the
foreign affairs department in Manila said in an e-mailed
statement yesterday. The two Chinese ships are safeguarding
Chinese national maritime rights and interests, the Chinese
embassy in the Philippines said in a statement.

“It’s the law of physics: two competing parties cannot
occupy the same space at the same time,” said Carlyle Thayer, a
politics professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy in
Canberra. “The danger now that this has been publicized is
growing nationalism in the Philippines that leads to greater
resolve for the Philippines to take action.”

Chinese patrols last year chased away a ship working for
Forum Energy Plc (FEP) off the Philippines. Confrontations with
Chinese fisherman have occurred in other waters as well, and
have involved the region’s largest economies.

South Korea, Japan

A South Korean Coast Guard member died in December after he
was stabbed by a Chinese sailor during an operation to seize an
illegal fishing boat in the Yellow Sea. Japan has protested over
several incidents in the East China Sea, including the collision
of a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese Coast Guard ships in 2010
that sparked a diplomatic row.

In addition to the Chinese embassy statement yesterday,
China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin called on the
Philippines to stop harassing Chinese fishermen and to refrain
from acts that endanger relations.

The Chinese fishermen were first spotted in the area on
April 8, according to the Philippine statement, which referred
to the waters as “an integral part of Philippine territory.”
The Philippine ship on April 10 blocked the entrance to a lagoon
where 12 fishing boats were seeking shelter, according to the
Chinese embassy in Manila.

The U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines
and has boosted military relations with Vietnam in recent years.
Both countries reject China’s map of the South China Sea as a
basis for joint development of oil and gas resources and have
pushed ahead with exploration work.

Oil Riches

The South China Sea contains oil reserves that may total as
much as 213 billion barrels, according to Chinese studies cited
in 2008 by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. The Philippines
said in January it’s ready to host a summit to help resolve
territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Del Rosario said a Coast Guard ship is on its way to assist
the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, which was originally launched in
1967 as a U.S. Coast Guard Hamilton class cutter and obtained by
the Philippines last year. The vessel “is deemed as an icon of
the restoration of the capability upgrade of the armed forces,”
according to a Philippine army statement.

The Philippines spent $1.5 billion on defense in 2010,
compared with China’s $114 billion, according to data compiled
by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The Scarborough Shoal is within the Philippines’ 200
nautical miles exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,
yesterday’s statement from the country’s foreign ministry said.
China refers to the feature as Huangyan Island.